Finding Hope
by RiderOfRohan3019
Summary: Chapter 1 revised! Boromir and Faramir would do anything to protect their sister, but they tend to forget that Audra is just as stubborn as they are. They forget that she feels like she has to prove herself to them & everyone else around her. That need causes her to do something reckless that sets her on a course where she finds herself, who she is, even love. EomerOC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N First, I want to say thank you and give credit to Certh, who alerted me to some details that needed revision. I have gone through and fixed everything (I think) that was brought to my attention. So this is a revised form of the first chapter. thank you again Certh!**

**My original idea was to show most of this in flashbacks but I figured that would get A.) annoying Or B.) confusing. There will still be flash backs later on in the story concerning Madril and some with Denethor and/or Boromir. I knew I had to tell how Audra and Éomer met. I am hoping that this isn't too cliché. Anyway, as you have probably noticed, this is an Éomer/OC fic, although Boromir and Faramir are in the story as well. I do hope you will give it a chance. This begins before the War of the Ring and continues during and after the War. I also don't follow tradition in the sense that a woman should never leave the city alone, but Audra isn't perfect, either and can still get herself into trouble and not be able to get out of it single handedly. Please read and review. This is only my second LOTR fic. Movie Verse for the most part as well. Happy Reading!**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places in Middle Earth except Audra and Hravan belong to JRR Tolkien. Those two belong to me.**

Pain coursed through her body as she hit the hard ground. The tall dry grass did nothing to soften her fall. Not that much could soften a fall from a galloping horse. She somehow managed not to hit her head on the large rock that lay just mere inches from her face. Getting up and dusting herself off, she cursed out loud. Her whole body ached. She took a step toward the direction that she thought her horse had run off in and regretted putting weight on her left leg immediately. She cursed again. She would never make it back to Minas Tirith at this rate. She sat down on the rock that could have easily been her undoing, and looked at the vast, rock littered, grassy plains that surrounded her. Had she really rode all the way into the heart of Rohan? She knew she had been riding for a long time, but not long enough to make it this far. At least not that she remembered. Then there was the added fact that even in the open plain she couldn't spot Hravan anywhere. "That's just wonderful," she muttered to herself.

She pulled her left foot towards her and began the slow, painful process of taking off her boot. She was dressed in attire that was similar to that of the Ithilien Rangers of Gondor, the tunic being a dark green, her breeches a dark brown. Around her waist was a black leather belt that held a dagger, a sharpening stone in a leather pouch, and a broadsword. At long last, she was able to remove her brown colored boot. Her ankle was beginning to swell and it had already turned a dark shade of purple. "Wonderful. What else could possibly go wrong today?" She groaned and lay back on the large rock, resting her leg on her right knee, so as to elevate it, and her arms shielding her eyes from the bright midday sun.

She didn't know how long she had been laying there like that when the sound of approaching hoof beats caught her attention. She sat up at the sound of a male voice. "Do you always ride with only one boot on?"

"Excuse me?" She looked up into the face of a young man as he dismounted from his dapple grey horse. He moved to stand in front of her, blocking the sun from part of her face.

"Usually when you go for a ride you have two boots on, versus only the one."

"I had both boots on, for your information." She held up her boot to show him. "Hravan got spooked or something and I fell off." No way was she going to tell this stranger that she had fallen asleep or blacked out. She held her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun as she looked up at him. It was only then that she realized that he had two horses with him. The grey to which he was holding the reins, and a solid black horse that had it's reins draped across the grey's neck. The man had found her horse. "Hravan!" Momentarily forgetting about her swollen, painful ankle, she stood and immediately sat back down with a hiss of pain.

The man dropped the reins to his horse and bent down next to her.

"Are you alright?"

She met his eyes. "No, not really."

She watched him run his hand through his shoulder length blonde hair. "May I take a look at it?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes, please." He reached for her ankle and took her leg gently into his gloved hands. She studied him as he examined it. He was obviously from Rohan. His light armor said as much. It was detailed with two horse heads facing away from each other in a deep red leather. The sword that was on his belt had two horse heads twisting around the blade at the top of the hilt. The tip of the hilt also had horses etched into it. She then moved her eyes to his face. He looked to be around her age of sixteen, maybe a couple of years older, and had a scruffy sort of beard and mustache on his face. His features made him very handsome, in a rugged sort of way.

"Can you move it at all?" he asked.

"A little bit but not much without it hurting a lot."

"Well in that case it's probably not broken. Wiggle your toes." She did so with little pain. "That's a good sign. Means your foot isn't injured as well."

"That's good. I guess."

"Yes, it is." He gave her a kind smile that lit up his face. "Let me grab a bandage. I have some in my saddle bags." He gently laid her leg back down and stood. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Her ankle was throbbing. He returned with bandage in hand and set back down. "This may hurt a bit."

"It can't hurt much more than it already does," she grumbled.

He smiled again. "I'm going to have to wrap it kind of tight. It will help with the swelling."

She nodded. "Alright." As he began his work, she said, "Thank you." He glanced up briefly then returned to her ankle. "For this, and finding Hravan."

"It's not a problem. I figured his rider was somewhere nearby. It took me a few minutes to catch him, but I got him eventually." He pulled the bandage a little tighter than he meant to and she winced. "Sorry."

"It's ok."

He smiled again but didn't look up. "I am Éomer son of Éomund." Éomer took a second to look at her, taking in her dark red hair and Gondorian Ranger like uniform, he asked, "You are not from Rohan, are you?"

"No, Gondor. I am Audra."

"You are quite a ways from home then, my lady." He tied the bandage off. "There. You are all set."

"Thank you." She smiled sheepishly and looked away from him as she realized who he was. "My lord," she added. He was King Théoden's nephew.

"Please call me Éomer. We are not in any formal setting. And I hate formalities," Éomer said with a smile.

"Then please call me Audra."

"As you wish." Again the radiant smile. He stood and held out his hand. She took it and with Éomer's assistance, stood. "How does that feel?"

"Extremely sore still. I think the pressure is helping a little, though."

"Good. Do you think you can ride?" He draped her arm around his shoulders, helping her balance.

Thinking about how temperamental Hravan could be, she shook her head. "No, I don't think so. At least not Hravan. And I obviously can't walk," she said with a grimace. She hated feeling useless.

He nodded in understanding. "A little on the wild side?" She nodded in response. "You can ride Firefoot then. He is quite gentle. I'll ride Hravan." He paused, thoughtful. "The name sounds Elvish."

"It is. It means 'wild one.'"

"It suits him," Éomer said with a smirk.

"Are you sure you want to ride him? He can be quite a handful."

Éomer let out a small laugh. "I don't mind. I spend a fair amount of my free time training young horses, so I am sure I'll be fine. Here, let me give you a leg up. We have a three day ride to Minas Tirith."

Audra's mouth dropped open in shock. "Three days?" How had she been gone for three days and not even known it? Madril must be furious, she thought. She wouldn't doubt it if he hadn't even gone to Ithilien with Faramir and Boromir when she hadn't returned. Who was she kidding? Of course he went with them.

Éomer looked at her questioningly. "Yes. We are only about half a day's ride to Edoras. Are you alright, Audra?" All the color had drained from her face. She was grasping Firefoot's short mane as if she was trying not to collapse, while balancing on one foot. "Audra?"

She shook her head, trying to pass over the shock. "I'm sorry, I just didn't realize that I had been gone for so long."

Éomer stepped closer to her, worried. "How could you have not noticed?"

"Blind fury will do that to you, I guess. It's a long story," she stated at his worried look.

"Okay." He wasn't one to pry. If she wanted to share her story with him, she would, on her own time. "We really should be going. There is only a few hours of daylight left and it gets very cold on the plains at night. We will need to make camp in a more sheltered area, out of the wind." Audra nodded and turned to face Firefoot and allowed Éomer to give her a leg up into the saddle. She gathered her reins, slid her right foot into the stirrup, and waited for him to mount Hravan. The black horse pranced around in tight circle, not allowing the man to mount him. Audra looked at the gelding sternly. "Hravan. Avo drasto, melloneg." At her words, Hravan stood still and allowed Eomer to mount. He gathered his reins and they set off.

After a few minutes of silence, Éomer asked, "What did you say to him?"

"It means don't be troubled or worried, my friend." She glanced at him. "He likes Elvish for some reason. When I can't get him to listen any other way, it never fails to work."

"That's interesting. Has he ever spent time with the elves?"

"No, he hasn't. Neither have I in that case. My brother and I spent many hours learning the language, though. While my father and I were training him, he spooked at a flag that had been ripped of it's post in the wind and I just started speaking to him in Elvish. It calmed him down, so I have continued to use it. I didn't mean to speak Elvish at the time but it just came out."

"Interesting."

They rode on in a comfortable silence for a couple of hours before something occurred to Audra. "You're not going out of your way just to see me back to Minas Tirith, are you?" She would hate it if he was and would feel rather guilty if he had been expected somewhere else entirely.

"No, not at all. My uncle actually asked me to relay a message to Lord Denethor."

"Well, I hope for your sake that he is in a better mood when you see him. He was rather upset a few days ago." Remembering her last run in with the man, anger coursed through her veins.

"I am assuming that has something to do with the long story you have pent up inside?"

"It might." Éomer took her curt answer as his cue to not say anything else on the matter at the moment.

Audra appreciated that Éomer was not pressing or prying. She was still trying to understand how she had ridden for three days and not noticed. She had no idea that she was that upset. Forcing herself to look at the beautiful scenery around her and admire it, she eventually distracted her mind to not think on the matter further.

After another hour or so, the sun began to sink behind the mountains to their right, making their shadows grow long and the temperature begin to drop. Éomer pulled Hravan to a stop. "We can set up camp over there." Audra followed his gaze to a cluster of rocks that made a sort of rock hut, the opening of which faced away from the wind that had steadily built up intensity during their ride. It was only a few hundred yards from them.

"Sounds good to me." She shivered and wished she had thought to bring her cloak when she had left the city. She could see it now, hanging on the front of Hravan's stall. A lot of good it does her there.

They urged their horses into an easy lope and within a few minutes, made it to their destination.

The inside of the rock hut was large enough for the two humans and the horses with plenty of room to spare. Éomer dismounted first and went to Audra's right side. "Leave your foot in the stirrup and dismount as normal. I'll help you." Audra did as he said and as she began to lower herself down, she felt Éomer's strong hands grab her gently yet firmly around the waist. She let her foot fall out of the stirrup and went to touch down but instead Éomer slid an arm under her knees and lifted her up. Instinctively she put an arm around his neck. He walked a couple of yards away from the horses, and put her down, allowing her to place a hand on his shoulder long enough to remove her sword from her belt and lean it against the wall. She lowered herself down to the ground slowly. She did not possess the strength to hobble around on one foot. "I'll take care of the horses," Éomer stated, sensing her exhaustion.

"Thank you, Éomer." She drew her right knee up and rested her chin on it as she watched him stop and turn back to her. He nodded and smiled in response and she shuddered, but it had nothing to do with how cold she was. She watched him un-tack both horses and tie them up to hitching post she only now saw. From his saddle bags, he withdrew a dark bundle and made his way back to her. "Here, put this on before you catch your death. It will begin raining soon." She took the bundle and unfurled it. It was a dark red cloak made of a soft, thick wool. She leaned forward and draped it around her shoulders.

"Thank you." She gave him a wry look. "Along with doctoring sprained ankles, can you predict the weather as well?" She laughed at the look he gave her.

"You're welcome. And no, I can't, although that would be nice. No, I can smell it on the air. I would start a fire but we have no wood. Are you hungry? I have some bread an cheese, if you would like some."

"That would be lovely." Audra studied Éomer as he went to get his saddle bags. He moved with a simple gracefulness and confidence. There was an air of authority about him. She watched him reach down and grab the leather bags that he had sat next to the saddles. Audra wondered what kind of message the king of Rohan would have for her father.

Éomer walked back to her as she moved her gaze to the horses. They seemed restless. "I know you must be eager to know why King Théoden has sent me." Audra didn't respond. She was wanting to know, but she also knew that Éomer was more than likely bound to his errand by secrecy. "I wish I could tell you. If we are to be traveling together, I do not wish to have any secrets between us." She narrowed her eyes at his statement. They had only met a few hours ago. Of course they were going to have secrets. Neither one of them was going to spill their entire life stories to the other any time soon. "I don't know about you, my lady, but like to trust the people with whom I travel."

"As do I, my lord." They shared a smile and fell into a comfortable silence as a heavy rain began to fall. Within seconds the ground outside was soaked. The horses soon became a little more relaxed, however, both remained alert; ears pointed out and up, noses flared, listening and smelling for something.

The two companions shared a meal of bread and cheese. After their meal, Éomer laid out their bedrolls, proclaiming he was exhausted. Neither one lay down to rest; they kept their backs pressed against the cool stone wall of their shelter. "How is your ankle?"

Audra looked up. "I think it will be alright. It doesn't feel as swollen as it did earlier."

Éomer sat up on his knees. "Would you mind if I checked once more? Just to see if the swelling has indeed gone down any."

She shook her head. "No, not at all." He moved closer to her and gently lifted her leg and began removing her bandage. Immediately, Audra felt the stiffness in the joint. The skin was still a deep shade of purple, the joint still swollen.

"It doesn't seem as bad as it did before. I think the wrapping has definitely helped. How does it feel?"

"Other than the obvious? I've had worse than a sprained ankle. I can deal with the pain. It's still very sore, but no where near as bad as it was."

"That's good. You should keep it elevated. Along with the pressure it will help with the swelling." He stood and went to fetch a saddle. When he returned to her side, Audra lifted up her leg and he placed the saddle to where her calf would rest upon the seat. "This should make it easy to keep it up while you sleep."

She snorted. "Who says I'll be sleeping tonight?"

Éomer looked up at her from reapplying the bandage to her injured ankle. "You need your rest, Audra. We still have two more days before we make it to your white city." When she didn't respond, Éomer paused in his wrapping. "What is it?"

She met his eyes but her gaze quickly fell. She hesitated. Should she tell this near stranger of the seemingly trivial things that kept her awake at night? No. He would not care. Not really. "It's nothing."

"You're a terrible liar, Audra." He finished the wrap and moved to sit beside her against the wall again. "Come. Tell me what is troubling that pretty little head of yours." She looked at him, shocked. Pretty? Her? Surely it was just a slip of the tongue. "I am sorry." This time, it was he who dropped his gaze, embarrassed. "That was out of line. Forgive me."

She shook her head. "There is nothing to forgive." Eomer breathed a sigh of relief. They sat in silence again, each lost in their own thoughts. Suddenly, Audra spoke. "Nightmares. More or less." Éomer sent a quizzical look her way. "That is what has been keeping me up. For nearly two weeks." She sighed heavily. "Both of my brothers have gone off to protect the boarders of Gondor against Mordor's forces. I fear our father has sent them to their deaths. Faramir, anyway. Boromir has always been the soldier. Faramir would spend hours in the vaults, studying the history of our land. The only way he would study sword work and archery is when our father would force him. It's not that he's bad, so don't think he is, it's just that it's not where his heart truly lies. He never wanted to join the Rangers, but he had always wanted to win our father's love. Boromir is the only one Lord Denethor has ever loved," Audra stated at Éomer's glance. "Every night since they left for their posts, I have dreamt of their deaths. I always see Boromir falling in the woods, pierced by many arrows and Faramir falls while charging into Osgiliath in a vain attempt to reclaim the broken city. It is always the same, one after the other, repeatedly during the night. I have gotten to where I barely sleep at all." Éomer began to see how she had blacked out for so long. Whatever had caused the young woman to flee the White City must have given her the break she needed, although it resulted in her passing out on her horse. It was probably a good thing Théoden had sent him when he did. Who knows what would have happened to the girl if she had been forced to walk back to Minas Tirith. Orcs were beginning to show their ugly faces around these parts. "My real father, the Steward of Gondor cast me out when I was just a child. Only a few days ago did I discover why. He said he had no need for a daughter. He claimed that I would grow up to be nothing more than a nuisance and he wanted no part of it. The man who raised me never kept my true identity a secret from me. I always knew growing up that Faramir and Boromir were my brothers and that Denethor was my father. I just never knew, or understood why I was raised by a different man. When I confronted Lord Denethor about it, he told me that he already had a worthless son, referring to Faramir, and that he wanted no part of raising a worthless girl. He knew I would never amount to much. I was more angry at the fact that he called my brother worthless than the fact that that is how he sees me. I began to yell at him, which in hindsight was probably a bad idea, but I didn't care at that point. He had me thrown out of the Great Hall. I ran all the way down to the stable, past the man that I consider my real father, and against his protest, I saddled up Hravan and fled. I guess I blacked out at some point. You know the rest."

Éomer sat in silence long enough for Audra to begin regretting that she had said anything. "I am sorry." He spoke quietly.

"Sorry for what?" she asked.

"For what you have had to deal with. I can not begin to imagine."

"I just keep telling myself that that's all they are. Nightmares. That they won't come true. That I am worrying for nothing. Thank you for listening. I think I feel-" Her speech was cut off suddenly with a great yawn. "I feel better. Thank you for letting me get that out. And for not interrupting."

He smiled warmly. His eyes glistened as the smile reached them. "You're welcome. I know what it is like to want to talk but no one will listen." He laid a hand on her shoulder. "Now, try and get some rest. You need your strength."

Audra lay down and pulled her blanket up to her chin. She was asleep almost instantly. For the first time in weeks, she had a nightmare free night.

**A/N: I may have made Denethor a tad bit OOC. But I needed him to be a bit meaner towards Audra. Yes, I do realize that Éomer would not be traveling alone either but that is what worked for my story. Please don't be too terribly picky please on the details like that. I just found what worked for what I am doing and went with it.**


	2. Chapter 2

Éomer did not rest at all. He simply kept watch over the young troubled woman. He had only known her for barely a day, but already he felt a strong sense of protectiveness over her.

He had never met her father, Lord Denethor. He wondered what kind of man he would have to be to throw out his only daughter. He could have at least had a servant or a guard or someone go with the poor girl, if nothing else. The ruling Steward of Gondor seemed like he would be particularly nasty. Éomer doubted he would be thrilled to see him in his city, but Gondor was the only ally Rohan had left, and vice versa. The old alliances had long ago fallen apart.

Éomer sighed. Ever since he had left Edoras, there had been a growing feeling of dread filling him, swallowing him whole. What was eating him was that he didn't know. Today, the feeling that something bad would happen engulfed him. He had never felt like this before. It terrified him.

The sound of rustling blankets roused him from his dark thoughts. "Good morning."

"Hey." Audra sat up and glanced at Éomer. He was sitting in the same position that she had last saw him in. "Did you sleep at all?"

Eomer stood and shook his head. "Not really, no."

"You should have woken me. I could have sat watch while you rested." He only looked away in response. "You look terrible," she stated after observing the young man. It was true. Usually she wasn't so bold to be blunt, but Éomer looked worried.

"Gee, thanks," he said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

She smiled in return. "I am sorry. I meant no offense."

"None taken." Éomer stood and began to gather his things. "We should be going. Your family must be worried sick about you."

She followed his lead and began to pack. She made to stand, but hissed as pain ran up her leg. She had forgotten about her ankle. "Damn."

Éomer ran over and helped her sit back down. "Let's have a look at that." He unwrapped the bandage. The swelling had gone down a bit more during the night. "It's beginning to mend."

"I feel completely useless."

"You need not." He glanced up at her and their eyes locked. "I am glad I came upon you when I did or you would be Orc chow right about now," he stated, trying to ease the strange silence that had befallen them. Audra snorted. "Stay seated. I will pack for us. We must get you back to your family."

Audra sighed. "You don't have to rush. I don't really have much family to return to." Éomer looked at her questioningly. She elaborated, "My brothers are both out patrolling in Ithilien and by now Madril, the man who raised me, is probably with them." She paused and looked away. This wasn't something she would normally talk about with anyone. "There is no one waiting for me."

Éomer slowly turned away. He bent down and picked up his saddle, making his way to saddle Firefoot. "And you are not married." It wasn't really stated as a question. As he placed the saddle on the gray horse's back, he looked back at Audra. "Forgive me. That was inappropriate."

Audra smiled and shook her head. "Ú-moe edaved." He glanced up from tightening the girth on his saddle and sent her a questioning look. Realizing she had spoken in Elvish without thinking, she gave the man a translation. "Sorry. It means that there is nothing to forgive." He continued to stare at her so she elaborated further. "I have a tendency to speak Elvish without realizing it. It's a habit that I formed with Faramir when we were younger. We could have private conversations in public and there was a very small chance of anyone overhearing us. Particularly Lord Denethor."

Éomer chuckled. "I see." He turned away and finished tightening the girth. "And did you not include your older brother in this little scheme of yours?"

Audra shook her head. "Boromir wasn't much for books and languages. He has always been the soldier." She smiled when she remembered the one and only time that she and Faramir had tried to include Boromir in their Elvish conversations. He shot the twins down so fast that they had recoiled in shock at his hostility

A few minutes later, the horses were saddled and everything was packed up. Audra stood again, minding her ankle and tried to walk on it again. There was some pain, but not like what she had felt before. It was more bearable and she felt as though she could walk on it. She reached around for her sword and fastened it around her waist. The red cloak that Éomer had lent her the night before was still fastened around her shoulders. She hesitated before taking it off. It smelled of horses and… and Éomer. As he busied himself with double checking the horses, she reluctantly pulled the cloak off and made her way over to him. "Thank you," she said as she handed it to him. Their fingers touched lightly when he took the cloak from her. Audra shuddered slightly and turned away as she retracted her hand.

Éomer smiled and shook his head. "We should head out soon." Audra simply nodded as she took a deep breath to steady her breathing. What was going on?

They rode in silence for the majority of their ride that day. For Éomer's part, he was trying to figure out why he was so tense. Any movement in the grass or in the shadows of the large rocks that they passed on occasion had him whipping his head around, sharp eyes searching for anything. The feeling of unease that he had been feeling continued to grow until his hands were shaking ever so slightly. Hravan, whom he had suggested he continue to ride until Audra could stand her foot in the stirrup, began to prance about, sensing his rider's tension and nervousness. He could sense that something wasn't right, as well.

"Something's wrong, Éomer."

Trying to control Hravan's prancing, Éomer replied, "I know. I think we're being followed."

Audra looked at him. "Who would be out here?"

Finally gaining control of the black horse, he brought him to a stop. Audra halted Firefoot beside him. Éomer scanned the terrain around them. "In Edoras, we had been receiving reports from surrounding villages and scouts that Orcs were beginning to show up all around Rohan. I kept hoping that we were going to be fortunate enough not to run into them. I don't think we'll be that lucky."

Audra began to look around as well. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and a shiver ran down her spine. Looking behind her, she saw Éomer was right. "Éomer." Éomer turned his attention to where she was looking. A small band of four Orcs stood fifty yards away, harsh swords drawn. A sudden ripping sound made Audra whip her head back to Éomer. He grasped his arm as he hissed in pain. Audra instinctively reached behind her for her bow and an arrow, but as her hand hit nothing but air, she groaned. The one time she actually need it, she didn't have it. She looked ahead in time to see and Orc in front of them loose another arrow in their direction and they both ducked. Dismounting at the same time and sending the horses off, they drew their swords in unison. "Are you okay?" Audra asked as blood slowly trickled down Éomer's forearm.

"I'll live," was his only reply. As the Orcs made their advance toward the two companions, Audra was silently grateful that she had thought to put her boot on over her bandaged ankle. She was actually able to put weight on it today.

The Orcs made their advance fast. Audra and Éomer prepared themselves for battle, each taking deep breaths to clear their minds. Taking a quick glance at the woman beside him, Éomer realized that his rule that war and anything related to war was the province on men was shot to hell considering the current situation, he asked half jokingly, "Have you ever actually fought anything before?"

She shrugged and tightened her grip on her sword. "Other than my brothers and Madril? Nope."

Éomer straightened his stance and looked at her. "Seriously?"

"What?" Audra asked, managing to sound indignant.

"Never mind," he replied, turning his attention back to the advancing Orcs. He had seen many woman claim to be warriors and boast that they could fight as good as if not better than most men, only to turn tail and run from battle. He just hoped she wasn't one of them.

The lead Orc began to run at them and the others followed close behind. The archer behind them advanced at this point, firing more arrows at them, missing every shot. _It's a distraction, _Audra thought. _Smart. _

She drew in a deep breath, steadying herself. She wasn't lying when she said she had never fought anything before. All the training she had acquired over the years came down to this. She knew what Éomer was thinking; that she would probably run, or not be able to handle herself. Well, she couldn't run, she wouldn't be able to live with the guilt. Not to mention that running wasn't ingrained in her head. Holding her ground was, however, and she and Éomer raised their swords in unison as they ran and met the advancing Orc band.

The first Orc that met Éomer's sword lost his arm, quickly followed by his head. Audra managed to run her sword through the heart of the first creature she met. Retrieving the blade out of the thing was much harder then she thought it would be. It took her two tries, pulling on the hilt to move the blade even an inch. She placed her foot on the corpse and pulled as she ducked a well aimed strike from another Orc. With her blade free of the dead body, she swung it in a graceful arc then proceeded to decapitate the creature in front of her. She glanced quickly around her to find another target. Her gaze landed upon Éomer just as the Orc archer took aim at the man. Éomer, still distracted by the Orc that was as good a swordsman as he was, didn't see the archer. Audra again wished for her bow as she rushed forward, her sword in front of her. "Éomer! Behind you!" She yelled over the sound of their blades clanking together. The Orc fighting him was distracted by her call long enough for the man to land a fatal blow to it's neck. Éomer turned his attention to the archer behind him.

Audra was just a few feet away from the archer when he let the arrow fly. It hit Éomer right in the shoulder as he tried to dodge it. He cried out in pain as he fell to the ground. Audra raised her blade up at the archer turned his attention to her and pulled out his own blade. They clashed with a loud metal on metal sound.

Audra was quickly overpowered. The Orc, in an odd move, shoved her with all his strength, sending her flying backwards. Her sword slid in the dirt, just out of reach as she hit the ground. When the Orc began to make his way toward her, she began to scramble to her feet to retrieve it. She didn't even make it to her feet before the creature was upon her. He shoved her back down and put his blade to her throat. "You're mine now," he said viciously. His rough voice sent shivers down Audra's back.

"She's not your's." The Orc swiftly turned at the sound of Éomer's voice. He let out a shriek as Éomer brought his sword down and ended his life. As the dead Orc fell to the ground, Éomer made his way to Audra. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I'm fine. But you are not." She pointed out the nub of the arrow that was planted in his shoulder.

Éomer looked down at it and shrugged with his good shoulder. "I've had worse. We need to move away from here first. I can still ride." He looked around them, dismay coming over his face. "Never mind. We don't have our horses."

"Yes we do." Audra smiled and whistled. Within seconds the sound of fast approaching hoof beats reached their ears and Firefoot and Hravan appeared in seconds. "Our horses."

Éomer let out a small laugh. "Convenient." He held out his good hand and helped Audra to her feet. "If we burn the carcasses it will attract any other band within eye sight of the smoke and we'd be in a lot more trouble than we just were." Audra nodded. It was customary to burn the corpses of the dead in the battlefield but she figured Éomer would make an exception seeing as how their lives would be put in more danger if they did so. There was no telling how many more bands were out on the plains. "Let's get out of here. We need to find a place to rest."

"No." Éomer glanced at Audra. He was surprised by the amount of authority in her voice. "We need to get your shoulder taken care of first."

"We don't-"

"Yes, we do. You have already lost a good amount of blood," Audra refuted. "I am no healer but I've bandaged a similar wound on Boromir before. Sit," she ordered.

Éomer did as he was told and made a spot for himself on the ground, again surprised by her authority. He watched as she helped herself to his small store of bandages in his saddle bags and make her way back to sit next to him on the ground. She helped him remove the outer layer of his armor, proceeded by the chain mail. _A lot of good that did,_ he thought as Audra worked it around the broken shaft of the arrow.

Neither one said a word as Audra gently grasped the arrow and began to pull. Éomer bit down on the inside of his cheek and held his breath as it moved through his flesh.

"You can stop grimacing now. It's out." Éomer opened his eyes and relaxed his body. He watched as Audra held the arrow up as if it was a prize. "See?"

Éomer nodded his head once. "That hurt."

"Obviously. You got shot with an arrow. Of course it's going to hurt. You're lucky they didn't think to soak it in poison." She smiled gently. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm fairly certain you'll live."

He let out a small laugh. He studied her movements as she wrapped the bandage around his shoulder. She did so with practiced ease, as if she had performed the task a hundred times. Her expression slowly transformed from content to thoughtful, her brow furrowed. She frowned as she continued wrapping and he silently wondered what she was thinking about. "Are you okay?"

Audra glanced up as she finished tying off the bandage. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." He quirked an eyebrow at her hesitation. "Okay, no not really. I've never killed anything before."

"Ah." He tried to think of something to say. "I wish I could say that it gets easier, the killing. Despite how vile the enemy is, as long as you have a conscience, you are still very aware of the fact that you took a life. The thing that helps me is knowing how many lives I saved by taking the enemy's life. That his life ending means another may continue."

Audra nodded. That made sense and she felt a little better. Still, she didn't say anything as she went to retrieve her sword from where it had landed earlier. Cleaning the blade on the bottom of her tunic, she heard him step up behind her. "For what it's worth, you did a hell of a job."

Audra snorted. "Except for that last part."

"Hey, you saved my life." He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and turned her around to face him. "And you didn't run."

"You were expecting me to, weren't you?" Audra asked, slightly offended.

Éomer shook his head. "No, I wasn't. Most people who carry weapons typically plan on actually using them at one point or another. Come on," he said. "We really should get going. We need to try to reach Minas Tirith before nightfall."

**A/N: This isn't exactly where I wanted this chapter to stop but I couldn't get past the writer's block that I've had for the past two weeks. So here it is. The second chapter. I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!**


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